Commentary
Standards, Accountability & Testing
Holding a wolf by the ears
I have a complicated relationship with testing.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
The Science and Success of Engelmann's Direct Instruction
Most reformers know there’s no cure-all for American education. Nevertheless, in The Science and Success of Engelmann’s Direct Instruction, the authors argue that a panacea not only exists but has been around for half a century.
Commentary
Standards, Curriculum & Instruction
At last, accountability for textbook publishers?
Nearly all American K–12 students are exposed to it every day. It decides, in large part, what students will learn in school and how they will learn it. It is never evaluated for quality in any serious way, but when it is rigorously evaluated, its impact on student achievement is significant.
Commentary
Charter Schools, Accountability & Testing
What the hell is going on at Success Academy?
I’ll have what she’s having.
Commentary
Charter Schools, Standards, Accountability & Testing
Are Catholic schools particularly good at teaching reading?
A look at the most-recent evaluation of Florida's Tax Credit Scholarship Program shows some surprising findings with regard to math and reading scores.
Commentary
Charter Schools, Accountability & Testing
Does Student Attrition Explain KIPP's Success?
A new Mathematica study persuasively puts to rest a common charge leveled at KIPP charter schools: that their test score gains are largely attributable to the attrition of their lowest-performing students. The authors compare nineteen KIPP middle schools to district schools and find no meaningful difference among those who walk in the door of each type of school.
Commentary
Standards, Accountability & Testing
New York’s Common Core tests: Tough questions, curious choices
With the release last week of half of the test questions from the most recent round of New York State Common Core ELA/Literacy and math tests, we can now begin to see if the tests are, as
Commentary
Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction, Standards
A few reflections on the Common Core Wars
Monday’s Politico story on the messaging battle over the Common Core has kicked up another round of recriminations, particularly on the Right.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Not teacher quality, but quality teaching
I’m looking forward to Elizabeth Green’s forthcoming book Building a Better Teacher. A sneak preview will run in the New York Times
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Standards
Close reading: A revolution delayed
For all of the talk about how different reading instruction is meant to be in the Common Core era, and for all of the hand wringing over the critical “instructional shifts” embedded in the new literacy standards, a glimpse at the world of classroom implementation reveals that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Commentary
Standards, Accountability & Testing
Standardized Tests: Correlation to Future Successes? (Part II of II)
The second part of our look at the possible data correlation between eighth-grade proficiency and college remediation.
Commentary
Standards, Accountability & Testing
Next Gen Accountability: Ohio & Beyond
Repost of a blog by Tom Vander Ark that appeared on the Getting Smart website on July 16, 2014.
Commentary
Standards, Accountability & Testing
The splintering school-reform movement
One of the great misconceptions in education is that the reform movement is monolithic. There have always been competing camps, often defined on ideological grounds. Conservatives and libertarians tend to stress school choice, for example; liberals are much more comfortable with an intrusive federal role.
Commentary
Standards, Accountability & Testing, Curriculum & Instruction
Teachers, the Common Core, and the freedom to teach
Common Core standards mean freedom to many teachers. Here's why.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction, Standards
Why Johnny won’t learn to read
Bad ideas in education are like horror movie monsters. You think you’ve killed them, but they refuse to stay dead.A generation ago, the infamous “reading wars” pitted phonics-based instruction in the early grades against “whole language,” which emphasized reading for meaning instead of spelling, grammar, and sounding words out.
Commentary
Standards, Curriculum & Instruction
A missed opportunity for Common Core
Last week, I had the privilege to speak in front of a group of education journalists convened by the Poynter Institute and the Education Writers Association about identifying strengths and weaknesses in curriculum.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
The ‘balanced literacy’ hoax
My chief mentor, the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, occasionally warned against “semantic infiltration,” which he correctly attributed to the late arms-control expert, Fred Ikle.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
How to improve My Brother’s Keeper: Emphasize a content-rich curriculum
My Brother’s Keeper, a new Obama-administration initiative focused on boys and young men of color, appears to be off to a strong start.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Common Core confusion: It’s a math, math world
Here’s a puzzler: Why are the Common Core math standards accused of fostering “fuzzy math” when their drafters and admirers insist that they emphasize basic math, reward precision, and demand fluency? Why are CC-aligned curricula causing confusion and frustration among parents, teachers, and students?
Report
Accountability & Testing
State Accountability in the Transition to Common Core
The Common Core is at a critical juncture. While many surveys show that support for the standards themselves remains strong, implementation has not been without major challenges.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Is differentiated instruction a hollow promise?
It looks to me as if one of the most acclaimed reforms of today’s education profession—not just in the U.S. but also all over the planet—is one of the least examined in terms of actual implementation and effectiveness.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Truth, not tracking
In a provocative piece in Slate recently, Fordham’s executive vice president Mike Petrilli asked why Euro-style tracking isn’t a better strategy for high-school students who are significantly below grade level.
Commentary
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
A concluded battle in the curriculum wars
In the Hoover Institution’s Defining Ideas journal, Tom Loveless has a brief, measured examination of today’s curriculum debates.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
We all have a stake in ensuring the Common Core debate rests on facts
Yesterday, National Review Online posted an article entitled, “The Eleven Dumbest Common Core Problems.” This is the latest in a series of posts making their way around the internet aimed at demonstrating how the Common Core ELA and math standards are &
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
There’s a new sheriff in town: Louisiana judges Common Core alignment
As followers of the Common Core debate know all too well, when it comes to the veracity of publishers’ claims of “Common Core alignment,” the most we supporters have been able to offer in the way of advice is: “buyer beware.”
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
Common Core 'spring training': Maintain realistic expectations
Everyone knows that the Common Core State Standards initiative has turned into a political football. But a more apt analogy might be baseball—spring training, to be exact. That’s because, for all the colorful commentary, the Common Core is still in the very earliest phases of implementation.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
How Well Aligned Are Textbooks to the Common Core Standards in Mathematics?
Just because the label on that pint of ice cream says it’s “fat free” doesn’t mean it won’t expand your waistline—and just because a textbook is labeled “Common Core aligned” doesn’t mean it actually covers the material it’s supposed to.
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
The invaluableness of 'obscure' words and the SAT
“Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”
Commentary
Curriculum & Instruction
The most important resolution: STEM education
Our nation’s education crisis is not exaggerated, nor is the risk to our economic prosperity and national security.